Rag feeder

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a rag feeder and, more particularly, to apparatus for presenting rags in a flat condition to a shoddy picker.

0 United States Patent 115] 3,640,377 Benoit Febo W72 [54] RAG FEEDER [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Henry F. Benoit, R0. Box 356, Charlton City Mass 01508 2,348,691 5/1944 Belli ..l98/l78 524,650 8/1894 Potter ..19/97 [22 Filed: Jan. 14, 1970 Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk [2]] Appl' NO': 2344 Assistant Examiner-Alfred N. Goodman Attorney-Norman S. Blodgett [52] U.S. (:1 ..198/178 ABSTRACT 51 1111.01 ..B6Sg 17/16 l f d I I 581 Field 01 Search ..198/178, 195; 19 91 ates 3 to apparatus for presenting rags in a flat condition to a shoddy picker.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIED FEB 8 i972 350.377

sum 10F 4 FIG. 6

HENRY F. BENO/T INVENTOR.

PATENIEB FEB 81972 3,640,377

sum m FIG. 7'

FIG. 8

RAG FEEDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the textile industry, it is common practice to form inexpensive yarns and the like by pulling used cloth or rags apart and using the resulting fiber. This regenerated material is known as shoddy" and the machine that takes the rags apart is called a shoddy picker." This machine is very dangerous to operate because the rags must be presented to the inlet apron of the picker in a flat condition and it is easy for the person feeding the machine to get his hand caught in the operating rolls. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a rag feeder in which the rags are placed in a hopper in bulk, so that the operators hands do not come near the operating machinery.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a rag feeder for use in shoddy picking operations wherein the machinery moves at relatively slow speed.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification andcovered by the claims appended hereto SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the invention consists of a rag feeder for a shoddy picker, wherein the picker has a main housing including a hopper. A broad endless conveyor belt is provided having one front run defining a rear wall of the hopper, the run being inclined upwardly and rearwardly away from the hopper. The conveyor belt is made up of a plurality of elongated horizontal slots lying side by side, each slat being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis extending lengthwise of the slat and being provided with a plurality of outwardly directed spikes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustratcd by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rag feeder embodying the principles ofthe present invention,

FIG. 2 is a further perspective of the feeder,

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of one side of the feeder,

FIG. 4 is a rearward perspective view of the invention,

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the other side of the feeder,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VIVl of FIG. 1,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the apparatus taken on the line DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention, the rag feeder, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown as having a main housing 11, part of which forms a hopper 12 having a front wall 13 and two sidewalls l4 and 15 A broad endless conveyor belt 16 is mounted in the housing and has a front run 17 forming a rear wall of the hopper 12; this front run is inclined upwardly and rearwardly away from the hopper. The conveyor belt is made up of a plurality of elongated horizontal slats 18 of generally ovoid cross section (see FIG. 6) lying side-by-side. Each slat is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis extending lengthwise thereof and is provided with a plurality of outwardly directed spikes 19.

As is evident in FIG. 4, means is provided at the lower end of a rear run 21 to assure that the slats reside at a predetermined angle when they enter the front run 17 at the bottom of the hopper. This means consists of two rubber-covered wheels 22 and 23 which engage the ends of the slats.

A spreader roll 24 is located at the upper end of the conveyor belt 16, the periphery of the spreader roll moving in a direction opposite to the direction of conveyor motion. The spreader roll is provided with flexible vanes 25 which stroke the rags lying on the surface of the conveyor to smooth them out.

FIG. 2 shows the upper run ofan endless belt 26 forming the bottom of the hopper. The belt is mounted on and driven by shafts 27 and 28. The bottom shaft 29 of the conveyor belt 16 also extends from both sides of the housing 11. The upper shaft 31 of the belt 16 is shown in FIG. 3, as is the shaft 32 of the spreader roll 24.

As is evident in FIG. 3, a motor 33 is mounted on the housing and has a built-in gear reduction unit. It drives the spreader roll shaft 32 through a chain 34, an idler sprocket 35, and a belt 36. The motor also drives a shaft 37 by means of a chain 38 and this shaft, in turn, drives the upper conveyor belt shaft 31 by means of a chain 39.

FIG. 4 shows that the shaft 37 serves to drive a pair of output rolls 41 and 42 which extend across the frame at the rear to pass the rags on to the input table of a shoddy picker (not shown). A shaft 43 extends between the sides of the frame 11 and carries the wheels 22 and 23. A cover 44 is mounted at the top of the frame normally to cover the spreader roll.

In FIG. 7, it can be seen that a curved flange 45 extends outwardly from the side of the frame concentrically of the lower belt shaft 29 and the sprocket wheel 49. The flange acts to retain the slats 18 in the plane of the belt after the wheels 22 and 23 have placed them there.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative method of setting the slats in proper condition. The belt 47 is driven from the shaft 48 by a sprocket wheel 49. A flange 51 extends axially from the side of the frame and is coextensive with the ends of the slots. Although the flange is mostly coaxial of the shaft, it flares outwardly in a portion 52 to draw angled slots into line.

The operation of the apparatus will now be readily understood in view of the above description. The rags are placed in the hopper 12 in a random manner. With the motor 33 operating, the upper run of the conveyor belt 26 moves rearwardly and drives the contents of the hopper against the conveyor belt 16. The rags closest to this last-named belt are impaled on the spikes 19 carried by the slats l8 and are lifted upwardly and rearwardly. This motion tends to cause the outer layer of rags lifted to drop back down into the hopper. since they are only held by the extreme ends of the spikes. As a particular rag reaches the upper portion of the front run of the belt, it is engaged by the resilient or flexible vanes 25 of the spreader roll 24. The vanes are moving in the opposite direction to the conveyor belt surface, so that the individual rag is smoothed onto the belt surface. As the rag progresses over the upper end of the belt 16 and starts down the back side (on the rear run 21), it encounters the rolls 41 and 42 and passes through them onto the apron of the shoddy picker (not shown). After leaving the rags behind in the rolls 41 and 42, the slats 18, which are pivotally mounted in their supporting chains, may lie at various angles to the general plane of conveyor belt. If they were allowed to pass around the bottom of the run of the belt in such a condition, the spikes would engage the rags in an uncontrolled manner and feeding would be erratic. Therefore, the wheels 22 and 23 are used to engage the slats as they move downwardly and to rotate them back into the plane of the conveyor, if such be necessary.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A rag feeder, comprising a. a main housing including a hopper,

b. a broad endless conveyor belt having one front run defining a rear wall of the hopper and inclined upwardly and rearwardly away from the hopper, the conveyor belt being made up of a plurality of elongated horizontal slats of generally ovoid cross section lying side by side, each slat being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis extending lengthwise thereof and being provided with a plurality ofoutwardly directed spikes, and

c. pressure means located at the lower end of the rear run and acting on the outwardly directed surfaces of the slats to assure that the slats reside at a predetermined angle when they enter the front run at the bottom of the hopper.

2. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the rags leave the conveyor at the upper end and the slats rotate about their pivotal axes to release the rag onto the inlet apron of a shoddy picker.

3. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means consists of rubber-covered wheels which engage the ends of the slats.

4. A rag feeder as recited in claim I, wherein a spreader roll is located at the upper end ofthc conveyor belt, the periphery of the spreader roll moving in a direction opposite to the direction of conveyor motion.

5. A rag feeder as recited in claim 4. wherein the spreader roll is provided with flexible vanes which stroke the surface of the conveyor to smooth the rags over the said surface.

6. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means consists ofa flange having a coaxial portion and a flared portion. 

1. A rag feeder, comprising a. a main housing including a hopper, b. a broad endless conveyor belt having one front run defining a rear wall of the hopper and inclined upwardly and rearwardly away from the hopper, the conveyor belt being made up of a plurality of elongated horizontal slats of generally ovoid cross section lying side by side, each slat being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis extending lengthwise thereof and being provided with a plurality of outwardly directed spikes, and c. pressure means located at the lower end of the rear run and acting on the outwardly directed surfaces of the slats to assure that the slats reside at a predetermined angle when they enter the front run at the bottom of the hopper.
 2. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the rags leave the conveyor at the upper end and the slats rotate about their pivotal axes to release the rag onto the inlet apron of a shoddy picker.
 3. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means consists of rubber-covered wheels which engage the ends of the slats.
 4. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein a spreader roll is located at the upper end of the conveyor belt, the periphery of the spreader roll moving in a direction opposite to the direction of conveyor motion.
 5. A rag feeder as recited in claim 4, wherein the spreader roll is provided with flexible vanes which stroke the surface of the conveyor to smooth the rags over the said surface.
 6. A rag feeder as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means consists of a flange having a coaxial portion and a flared portion. 